Get Satisfaction Now Customer Support Tool for Brands Using Facebook, Google

Get Satisfaction, which offers web-based community support tools, this week became the recipient of a couple of influential integrations. While not official endorsements per se, both Facebook and Google brought on the company to help their own customers offer social CRM.

Facebook recently approached Get Satisfaction about helping with its fan page product, said co-founder Lane Becker in an interview earlier this week. The site was apparently concerned that many small businesses and brands are using their fan pages as a point of contact with users, but wall posts have a very short shelf life, are not easily archived, and thus result in customers asking the same question over and over. Now, with Get Satisfaction’s “Social Engagement Hub,” available to customers for $99/month on top of whatever they pay Get Satisfaction, brands can have a tab for support on their Facebook fan page (implemented with help from the startup Involver).

When users ask questions on Facebook, Get Satisfaction searches its archive and shows similar queries. Those questions and responses (provided by the company or community members) are stored, made accessible on Get Satisfaction proper, and SEOed for Google. Users do have to be logged into Facebook to use the support tab, but they don’t have to be fans of the product or company they’re asking about.

Also this week, Get Satisfaction was one of about 50 launch partners for the new Google App Marketplace, so it will offer integration of employee moderation tools for its customers within the Google Apps environment.

Becker said that Get Satisfaction does make some effort to integrate with Twitter as well, offering customers a simple “Overheard” feature that brings in mentions of their name in tweet. But that’s minimal. Twitter has yet to offer specific tools to help companies using tweets to hear from and talk to their customers, though it has promised they are coming at some point.

Get Satisfaction has about $5 million in funding, 20 employees, and 20,000 participating organizations, including major brands like many products from Procter & Gamble